Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) said yesterday that the complaint submitted by the siege countries to the High Commissioner for Human Rights was a desperate attempt to hinder the Qatari committee’s efforts in protecting human rights.
The committee stressed in a statement that it will continue to work professionally in accordance with international law and the Paris Principles and shall always remain biased towards victims and human rights issues. The committee also said that it will remain committed to defending human rights and victims, highlighting that it was the first of its kind to be established in the GCC region and the only institution accredited “A” status in the Gulf region since 2010.
The statement said that at a time when they were looking forward to lift the injustice off of the victims affected by the blockade and its humanitarian repercussions on the citizens and residents of the GCC countries, the Committee was shocked to know about the complaint submitted last week by the besieging countries against it to the High Commissioner for Human Rights through its permanent representatives to the United Nations in Geneva. The statement added that the complaint included demands to withdraw “A” Status (the highest status accredited to human rights body by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions) from Qatar National Human Rights Committee, which entails the highest level of institutional credibility and independence from the Government in accordance with the standards established by the United Nations (the Paris Principles).
The complaint has been preceded by systematic distortion campaigns against NHRC launched by some parties and media, as well as accusations and threats made by some high level officials in these countries, in a critical precedent that has never been witnessed in the work of national human rights institutions around the world.
The committee said that It would have been more practical for the besieging countries to act and make efforts to address the violations promptly by lifting the injustice and responding to the demands of the NHRC, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Special Rapporteurs and international human rights organizations, instead of obscuring violations, targeting human rights defenders, human rights organisations and national institutions, and obstructing their work.
The statement also said that it would have been more appropriate for these countries to open the way for their human rights organisations to work together to resolve and address the violations, rather than wasting time in submitting statements and complaints that don’t have any legal effect on the efforts of NHRC.
The committee stressed that this complaint was an explicit condemnation of the practices of the besieging countries and a compelling proof of restricting the activities of human rights defenders. NHRC then called upon the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and international organisations to act to counter the vicious and systematic campaigns against human rights activists and organisations.
